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Mindfulness for children

A bright blue sky on Monday prompted me to ask my 2 year old- ” what shall we do today? ” “Feed the ducks ” he replied decisively! I have to admit that after 6 years of feeding the ducks on a regular basis (since i had kids), the joy had gone out of it a bit, but his mind was made up, so i agreed.

As we finally found one lone hungry duck and he gratefully gobbled up our offering of bread, I tuned in to my toddler’s sheer joy every time he threw a piece of bread. When the bread was gone we threw in stones and rejoiced in the splash. On the way home we crunched leaves and squished fallen berries off the trees.

When we arrived home, I realized I was feeling much more relaxed, centered and …joyful! It just made me realize that even though I teach other parents about using sensory strategies to calm their little ones, i’m not always so good at doing it myself. Kids naturally play mindfully, so if we follow their lead (instead of rushing them along), we might learn something ourselves!.

Here are some more sensory based mindfulness techniques you can use with your kids (or they can use with you!).

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Inés Lawlor

I graduated from the University of Salford (U.K.) in 1999 with a higher second class honours degree in Occupational Therapy. I wrote the story back in 2008, as I wanted to create a shared vocabulary and understanding between children, teachers and parents that explained sensory processing difficulties without making the child feel to blame.

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